The Essence of Good Governance
“Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni has been often looked upon as a strategist, and as an advisor to none other than the former Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji. In fact, there were numerous occasions when Atalji would lean to Sudheendra for his inputs on how delicate situations must emerge with a balanced view”, states Rtn Poonima Advani, before going on to present one of the most formidably thorough introductions we’ve ever heard!
“Good governance according to Indian languages, all of which have their origins in Sanskrit, is ‘Su raj’ or ‘Su shashan’. And the subject of good governance came up because 2016 happens to be the 25th anniversary of economic reforms, as it is believed that India attained its economic freedom in 1991, despite having got political freedom in 1947.”
“So why are we still debating and discussing the need for good governance? Obviously, because there is a sense amongst the people that we have not made the transition from Swaraj to Su raj… but why?”
Speaking about the essence of the two fundamental terms, Swaraj and Su raj, Mr. Kulkarni said, ”There was a lot of debate during the course of the freedom struggle on what exactly we’d want, and Mahatma Gandhi, who provided leadership to our freedom struggle was seized, as he was grappling with this question even before he came to India!”
“He was so affected thinking about what India wants or should want, that in 1910, he wrote a seminal book called the Hind Swaraj, where he presented his understanding. In it, Gandhiji mentioned that just by making the Britishquit India was not Swaraj. Swaraj has a very comprehensive and holistic meaning. Swaraj, he says, is not just self-rule but is also about rule over self.”
Continuing further, Sudheendra questions, “What is this self? Self is both: the individual self, that which is the societal and national, but also the cosmic and the para cosmic self. So the true meaning of Swaraj is to put ourselves under the control of self, i.e., our own
self and the larger self, i.e., God. So it’s a very interesting term, and this distinction doesn’t come through when we use the word freedom!”
“Gandhiji also said that by gaining political freedom we should create a society, a nation, which governs itself by following an ethical path. Swaraj was not just for the nation but for every single citizen, as every single person should become both free as well as in control of himself, and put himself under the control of a higher set of ethical rules.”
“So if we had understood the meaning of Swaraj in this deeper sense then we would have followed a very different path after 1947. Therefore, the fact is that we have not been true to the more comprehensive and true meaning of Swaraj!”
Speaking about the difference between Swaraj and Su raj, he says, “The letter ‘Su’ in our philosophical, spiritual and cultural tradition has a very deep meaning. Whenever there is a prefix of Su, the meaning of the word becomes very profound. ‘Su’ Sanskrit, ‘Su’ vichar, ‘Su’ Shashan. However the word good governance does not capture the full meaning of Su shashan or Su raj. Su raj means mangalmay raj, kalyankari raj, maanav ko utkarsh ke path par le jaane wala raj. Therefore my initial submission is that we should be firmly rooted in our own traditions and our own civilization genius.”
“When we talk of good governance reforms, we often limit it to reforms within the administration, judiciary, the police force, and in the way our parliament and legislation function. Of course, all these reforms are essential. However, they must be guided with the basic understanding that those in power (shashan) or by political representation (prashashan), through judiciary, should all be governed by the command of a larger self – that which commands us to on walk the path of truth and justice, and enables us to differentiate between good and evil” asserts Sudheendra.
“Unfortunately today, the definition of reforms is limited to only economic reforms. The country needs to be reformed and reforms is a continuous process, but reforms for what? From 1991 onwards, reforms have done a lot of good to our economy. We have become a far more prosperous nation, with a 2.2 trillion dollar economy. However, there too, there is a limited understanding, and that the material prosperity should only becomes a means towards a larger end. And since that understanding, that awareness, has become weaker, we see a certain grab mentality, greed mentality, especially amongst those who are in positions of power.”
“Corruption too, is at an all time high,why? This is because we have somehow, as a nation, begun to think of economic growth as development. Economic growth is a means for development, but is not an end in itself! This distortion is something that is worrying all right thinking people in the country and especially the young.”
“As a result of this lopsided economic growth, lopsided development and prosperity for oneself, one’s family, one’s company (by means of right or wrong) what has it lead to? It had lead to deep deprivations and divide in the society, and the reaction of this is manifesting in many negative ways. This is also the reason why more and more sections of our society want reservations,as a path towards their share in the nation’s prosperity.”
“Now why is this happening? This is happening because, even though there is prosperity, the socio-economic inequality is widening. Our rural areas are victims of neglect. And to add to it, media has brought about a social integration. Whether people are living in villages or in cities, they are all connected, thanks to the mass media, the new media and social media. And therefore there is no difference in aspirations. Everyone is aspiring for a certain quality of life, and if this quality of life is not assured is not delivered, it is bound to create discontent. Therefore good governance has to address it on a very urgent basis otherwise people are bound to demand reservations, and we do not know where it will all lead to.”
“So what are the specific good governance reforms that India needs? 1) Recreate the spirit of our freedom movement, the spirit of oneness, the spirit of national unity, that all of us are Indian first and that we are ready to subsume our other identities in the identity of being Indian – We seem to become one only when there is an external threat. But when it comes to internal challenges the spirit of unity, the sense of Indian-ness becomes weaker and often get disintegrated, and this cannot lead to good governance.
2) Become even more democratic. We need take pride in the fact that despite the diversity, ours is a democratic nation – Unfortunately, we sometimes compare ourselves with China, which may be more prosperous materially, but not in every other sense of the term. Whatever China has achieved, it is at a cost of something very precious. And I’m sure a day will come when the Chinese citizens will demand democracy and freedom.
3) We need Political reforms, as without it we cannot change the kind of governance problems we are facing – We are a multi party democracy; there is so much of confrontation and decisiveness in our political system. Very often, the opposition says things demand things, which they themselves go back on when they are in power. And this does not inspire confidence so there needs to be more and more dialogue among political leaders of various parties. People at the top have to reach out to fellow politicians, build consensus, and think of the major challenges before the nation.
4) Electoral reforms – So long as our elections continue to be dominated by money power mafia power and other kinds of powers, there can be no good governance. Money power is killing the spirit of democracy. Therefore, we have to think about what kind of electoral reforms we need so that our governance gets reformed.
5) Reforms in the structures and practices of the government, the legislative, the judiciary and of the executive – Judiciary and executive have become completely unaccountable. Where is the introspection? And if there is no introspection, if there is no self-correction, the best of systems get corrupted, and become stagnant, so we need judicial reforms. We need reforms in the way our parliament and the legislatures function. Very often they don’t function at all! However, in the past two years, our parliament is sitting longer hours and conducting good business.
6) Economic reforms – We need economic reforms which will change the mindset and conduct of our wealth generation community. Wealth generation cannot be for self-enrichment alone, it is not in keeping with our culture. We have to make India a wealthy nation, as it is a means for progress, but not an end in itself. Which is why in our languages, the term for wealth is samriddhi, i.e., a combination of riddhi and siddhi, without siddhi, there is no future for humanity. The wealth we create, we use whatever is necessary for ourselves, and must also give back to the society. And Rotary Club in its own way has been doing this and I urge you to do it even more as our society needs it.
We are all privileged people, but millions of our fellow Indians are not so privileged. Unless we lift them up, we cannot call ourselves a developed nation, a nation of good governance. We have to create a strong sense of oneness and opportunities for all. And that is possible only through good governance.